Saturday, 29 August 2015

Great Game OSTs (Part 6)

Fighting Game Music

Name: The Lily Of Steel

From: Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-
Artist: Daisuke Ishiwatari

Even more love for Daisuke because his works are simply amazing. I said it before and I'll say it again: I love the hard rock OST for the GG and BB games because these tracks just gets you PUMPED for some hardcore fighting. My favorite theme in Xrd so far, "The Lily Of Steel" just suits Millia so much. The progressive rock just fits Millia, its not too hardcore, and its steady beat fits her mobility/playstyle during a battle. I haven't played Xrd for myself, but if we're talking themes alone, I'm pretty sure I would main Millia just for her theme alone.

Name: Silent Scream
From: Blazblue: Chrono Phantasma 2.0
Artist: Daisuke Ishiwatari

You saw this one coming. Just when I thought Hazama/Terumi couldn't get any more badass with his earlier theme, "Endless Despair II", Daisuke comes up with THIS. Terumi's new theme in 2.0 is called "Silent Scream"...and this thing hits SO hard. Its probably the most metal theme in the game...not counting "Black Onslaught", and I LOVE it. It sounds very different from most other themes in the game, hell, if anything, "Silent Scream" reminds me of a GG theme, most of which are just pure, unhindered metal. "Silent Scream" is just Terumi's jam, and I can picture myself seeing Terumi himself head bang to this crazy piece.

RPG Music

Name: Drawing! Grind!
From: Tales Of Graces F
Artist: Motoi Sakuraba

This one is debatable, since the "Tales Of" series has a ton of other very good battle themes that are favored by other fans. To me, outside of "Eternia"'s "Inferia Battle", this piece takes the cake. "Drawing! Grind!" is the default battle theme for the adult segment of "Tales Of Graces", and I think that this is an amazing theme to do battle with. Its strong guitar rifts makes for some rather intense moments, and this makes you want to go ham in every battle, which you can, seeing as "Graces" has no battle resource. You'll almost always go crazy in all fights in "Graces", this theme only gives you a better feel for a battle.

Name: Free Battle (Confrontation)
From: Devil Survivor 2
Artist: Takami Asano

The original "Devil Survivor" game had great music, and while the first game's OST is almost perfect, I feel that the sequel's music, while good on its own right....isn't quite on the level of the original. However, its quite ironic that the best theme in the the free battle theme, the one theme that sucked quite a fair bit in the original. "Free Battle (Confrontation)" sounds inspiring and intense, something that makes you feel like you're in the heat of a tough battle. It sounds a bit too powerful for a theme you'll use to grind for EXP, especially since it out shadows every other theme in the game.


Name: Ryu's Determination
From: Warrior's Orochi III
Artist: ?

Ryu Hayabusa is an amazing ninja. For a character that has been in the gaming scene for decades, Hayabusa is one of the most well known Ninja in gaming, and what better way to represent the dude than to remix one of his old school themes into a modern game. I myself have NOT played "Warriors Orochi III", but his theme in this game is nigh unforgettable. After hearing it once, I HAD to go back to find it again. "Ryu's Determination" is a fitting name, because this theme portrays nothing but sheer determination and awesomeness.

Name: Misterious Destiny: Angels Battle
From: Bayonetta
Artist: Norihiko Hibino feat. Helena Noguerra

Not much I can say here. "Bayonetta" has been known to have some pretty....funky music for an action beat'em up game. It's a sharp contrast to the rock/metal compositions that have been present in most other action games that are within the same genre. "Misterious Destiny" is probably the first song you'll hear when you play as Bayonetta beating the angels up senseless, and its nothing short of fabulous. You just feel like a god damned DIVA as you dance around the angels, hitting them endlessly as you groove to this song....all while finishing them off with torture BDSM attacks.

Name: White Fatalis
From: Monster Hunter Series
Artist: Marika Suzuki, Miwako Chinone, Reo Uratani

This is by far the most terrifying monster in the "Monster Hunter" series. The White Fatalis is highly dangerous, with many of its attacks capable of one shotting most hunters EVEN with the best armors in the game. There is indeed no better way to portray this majestic elder dragon than to give him a theme that strikes fear into all those who DARE to stand in front of him. With an orchestra and a very menacing tempo, its hard not to admire this piece. When this theme plays and the White Fatalis descends in front know you are f**ked.

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Jojo - Sono Chi No Kikoku ~End Of The World~ (Tommy, Coda, Jin)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Last Train Home (Pat Metheny Group)

Genre: Action

Episodes: 24

Well, there's not much for me to say. Jojo is back, and its back...full, f**king force. There's no going back, it doesn't hold back, and its silly, brain dead fun ALL the way for the second season of "Stardust Crusaders". With a ridiculously long name like "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc"....I'll just call it "Egypt Arc". The first season of "Stardust Crusaders" was fun, but it can be quite inconsistent at times, with some rather slow moments. "Egypt Arc" is more of the same, but with less slower moments and more intense, brutal battles, the things that the "Jojo" franchise are known for. It even has some pretty interesting conflicts with even MORE interesting characters, something that "Stardust Crusaders" does quite well. Needless to say if you enjoyed ANY of the "Jojo" animes, this one is almost a must watch, since it pretty much follows up on "Stardust Crusaders". "Egypt Arc" is here to impress, and it sure does not disappoint.

Behold, Dio's elite stand users!

If you haven't had enough of manly Jojo openings, you go. "Jojo - Sono Chi No Kikoku ~End Of The World~" is by Tommy, Coda and Jin, the 3 singers of the 3 opening themes before this one, a collab for the final half of "Stardust Crusaders" is a great idea. Unfortunately, "End Of The World" is a rather slow song....I don't like it too much and I'll even say that its the weakest of the Jojo opening themes. The ending theme is "Last train Home" by Pat Metheny Group, and following the patterns of all the previous seasons, its no surprise that this one is another English song. It fits the mood and sounds quite funky, no complains here.

Rating: 8.0/10

What can I say? It's more Jojo, more importantly, its more of "Stardust Crusaders", an arc that showed to have massive potential towards the end of the first half. "Egypt Arc" picks off right after where the first season left off, and obviously things start off pretty quickly. Stand battle after stand battle, the pacing and flow of things are quite similar to that of the first season, except that here, the battles can be a little more drawn out (leading to more interesting situations), and the villains are a lot more interesting as characters. As the show approaches its climax the battles are longer and a lot more intense, making the final showdown with Dio an epic, amazing fight that no action loving fan will be disappointed with (the censors can be quite irritating though). Of course, the battles in "Egypt Arc" are every bit as fun to watch as they were in the first season, maybe even better this around, since its no longer just a test of skill and brute force against certain opponents. The story does advance, but not by a long shot, there was a lot more characterization in the first season, this season is more for showcasing the ridiculousness that this arc could achieve....which is a good thing.

Oh boy, here we go!

As mentioned earlier, "Egypt Arc" takes place right after the events of the first season of "Stardust Crusaders", after defeating the Priestess. Our heroes find themselves in Egypt, and they are bestowed upon a new ally by the Joestar corporation, a dog by the name of Iggy. Why a dog though? Iggy is a stand user....a stand using dog, a rather mischievous one at that. When the team is still debating about Iggy's addition to the team, they notice that the Joestar helicopter that delivered Iggy had crashed. After searching the helicopter to find its two pilots dead, they find out that they are attacked by the enemy stand. Right away. they are thrown into battle against a stand user that's probably more powerful than anyone that they have faced. The team realizes that their journey is far from over, as they will be challenged by Dio's elite stand users, who are a whole new level above the ones that they have faced so far.

"Egypt Arc" works as the conclusion to "Stardust Crusaders"'s been a fun ride. There's a ton of fun to be had in this sequel, and when you realize that its coming to an end, its kind of sad to say good bye to it, especially after investing 48 episodes worth of time into it. Let's just hope that they decide to do the 4th arc in the "Jojo" timeline...however, that would take some time.


Monday, 24 August 2015

Seiyuus - Even More Industry Veterans

Kaori Mizuhashi

Kaori Mizuhashi is a woman who's already hit 40. Yes, you heard me right, things can get rather misleading, but...yeah. She sounds REALLY young, most of her characters sound very cute (IMO, the archetype where she excels in), and she can do a huge variety of voice types. Once again, she has been in the industry for quite awhile, so her resume speaks for itself. She does a tsundere well with Minami (Baka Test series), and she can also sound cute with girls like Norma (Tales Of Legendia), Meiru (Rockman Exe Series), Fel (Prism Ark), or the overly energetic Marona (Phantom Brave). She can also do a very convincing young boy voice with the super badass kid Laharl (Disgaea Series), another character she nails out of the park. Then, there are my 2 favorite characters from her, Yagyuu (Senran Kagura) and Ougi (Monogatari Series). Yagyuu showcases her kuudere voice and Ougi is just a mixture of...weird cuteness. She's a complete enigma of a character, and Mizuhashi's voice portrays her excellently.

Characters from left to right

1st row: Norma (Tales Of Legendia), Ougi (Monogatari Series), Fel (Prism Ark)

2nd row: Marona (Phantom Brave), Yagyuu (Senran Kagura Series), Meiru (Rockman Exe Series)

3rd row: Minami (Baka Test Series), Laharl (Disgaea Series)

Ryoka Yuzuki

All hail Kiryuin Satsuki. Ryoka Yuzuki is also another woman who's been in the industry for quite awhile...some of her characters can start to show their age. Yet again, this is another seiyuu who's somewhere around 40 is still presently voicing over high school characters....yeah. Let's get the big ones out of the way first, most importantly, Kiryuin Satsuki (Kill La Kill). This is one of the most powerful and impressive female characters I've ever seen in an anime, and props to Ryoka Yuzuki for showcasing such a powerful voice for such a powerful character. Then, we have girls from older franchises: Ino (Naruto Series), Aruceid (Tsukihime) and Reala (Tales Of Destiny 2). Ino and Aruceid are teenage-y, high school-ish characters who sound attractive enough, while Reala is a young girl, so its only normal that she sounds cute. Risa and Celine (To Love Ru Series), while from the same franchise, sound super different, one's a playful, seductive girl, the other is simply a tiny mandrake baby girl. Then she's got the troubled high school teacher in Shizuka (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), and the tough as nails, naughty school girl in Akio (Trinity Seven).

Characters from left to right

1st row: Ino (Naruto Series), Satsuki (Kill La Kill), Aruceid (Tsukihime), Akio (Trinity Seven)

2nd row: Risa (To Love Ru Series), Celine (To Love Ru Series), Shizuka (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU), Reala (Tales Of Destiny 2)

Satoshi Hino

This guy's got the voice of the protagonist in him, and its easy to see that he's got quite a few of those roles down just right. He's got the voice of righteousness, reckless teens in him, he takes the cake with roles like Yuji (Shakugan No Shana), Saito (Zero No Tsukaima), and even a character like Hamazura (To Aru Majutsu No Index II). Then he can be a little bit shy or loud with a character like Kinjiro (Mayo-Chiki) or Enigman (Sket Dance)....who is an excellent example of a combination of both loud and reserved. Then, he's got the occasional cool guy demeanor with someone like Sai (Naruto Shipuuden), who's actually pretty badass, or a character that goes full YOLO like Iwaizumi (Rail Wars!). My favorite character from him is one that he did rather recently, and that's Isaac (Log Horizon). While he does well doing the younger, high school student age characters, I'd like to see him do manlier, more bold characters like Isaac...Satoshi Hino can sound downright intimidating if he wants to.

Characters from left to right

1st row: Hamazura (To Aru Majutsu No Index), Isaac (Log Horizon Series), Enigman (Sket Dance)

2nd row: Yuji (Shakugan No Shana Series), Saito (Zero No Tsukaima Series)

3rd row: Iwaizumi (Rail Wars!), Sai (Naruto Shipuuden), Kinjiro (Mayo-Chiki)

Houko Kuwashima

Well....its Kasumi. That's all you need to know really, here you go, the seiyuu of one of the sexiest fictional characters to ever exist. Houko Kuwashima is one HELL of a versatile, veteran voice actor. She's got plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and she's one of those girls that you can never tell from in an anime or game where she voices in. Its almost impossible to know what tone of voice belongs to her...just because her range is THAT massive. Anyway, the obvious one is Kasumi (Dead Or Alive), who's just a squealy, sexy kunoichi with a rather high pitched voice. Then she can go quite low with characters like Isara (Valkyria Chronicles) or Presea (Tales of Symphonia), the latter is almost a kuudere character archetype. She can do boys (evil ones too!) with Shion (Darker Than Black II), or a somewhat serious girl with Cyrille (Shining Force EXA). Slightly more mature ladies like Rebecca (Shakugan No Shana III) or Medusa (Soul Eater) are right down her ally too, and she can go super cute-sy with a girl like Vivian (Cross Ange).

Characters from left to right

1st row: Vivian (Cross Ange), Presea (Tales Of Symphonia), Shion (Darker Than Black II)

2nd row: Rebecca (Shakugan No Shana III), Cyrille (Shining Force EXA), Medusa (Soul Eater)

3rd row: Kasumi (Dead Or Alive Series), Isara (Valkyria Chronicles)

Toshihiko Seki

Old dude with a bisohunen voice, once again, this is probably a trend that you'll notice in the seiyuu industry. Toshihiko Seki is....over 50, and sounds amazingly fabulous. If I were to compare him to another seiyuu, it'd be Koji Yusa, both sound fabulous for their age. Seki does well with the more bishounen characters...the tall, dark and handsome ones. The ones that he voices with said tone are Aleister (To Aru Majutsu No Index Series), Warrior Of Light (Dissidia Series), Embryo (Cross Ange), and so some extent, even Kogoro (Project X Zone). He can, for some godly reason, voice younger characters like Loni (Tales Of Destiny 2), and do very well at that. He also has the nicer guys like Iruka (Naruto Series), or the completely random, serious, blood sucking sailor uniform in Senketsu (Kill La Kill). My favorite character from him however, is Sanzo (Saiyuki Series), is badass monk from an anime that's considered pretty old school at this day and age.

Characters from left to right

1st row: Warrior Of Light (Dissidia Series), Senketsu (Kill La Kill)

2nd row: Loni (Tales Of Destiny 2), Aleister (To Aru Majutsu No Index), Iruka (Naruto Series)

3rd row: Sanzo (Saiyuki Series), Embryo (Cross Ange), Kogoro (Projext X Zone)

Opening Songs
OP 1 - Link (Aimi)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Hikari (Makino Mizuta)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Magic, Romance

Episodes: 12

When it comes to harems, many factors will either make or break a good one...I've explained this many times already, but it's always nice to see a harem that does well at EVERYTHING that it's supposed to long as its done in moderation. "Oda Nobuna No Yabou" is a harem that was released back in 2012, so I'm a little bit late to this one; but better late than never. I'm glad I returned to watch this one though, because seriously, "Oda Nobuna No Yabou" easily beats out many harem animes in present date with its unique spin on the sengoku period figureheads, more specifically, the generals. Of course, when we talk gender swapped characters, they need to be presented WELL, and to be honest, I really liked how things went with "Oda Nobouna No Yabou". It has a decent story that's pretty good for a harem, great characters, and even some intense moments as well. "Oda Nobuna No Yabou" is a strong entry to the genre, even much more so if you like the whole "Oda Nobunaga" thing.

Oh hell yes....Oda Nobuna is, to say the least.

The opening theme is "Link" by Aimi, and its a pretty good song IMO. For an anime like "Oda Nobuna", which focuses on more than just flirting around with girls, "Link" really highlights the intense and amazing moments of the show. Its a lot better than some random cute-sy opening theme that sounds similar to many other songs. The ending theme, "Hikari" by Makino Mizuta is a ballad, and honestly, it's not even a very strong one. Not my cup of tea, to say the least.

Rating: 8.0/10

I really enjoyed "Oda Nobuna No Yabou", I really missed out on this series for the past 3 years. The different approach that was taken to the story and how it was supposed to follow the events that transpired during Oda Nobunaga's plan to rule the world was...nice. Its mostly the same, but with a few tweaks in the proper history here and there, making it quite a unique experience (unlike the shit in "Nobunaga The Fool", which just blew everything out of proportion). The characters are pretty solid, and they made sure not to make it a COMPLETE boob fest by throwing at least SOME guys in there (I'm glad they kept Hattori Hanzo as a dude). Fan service was kept in moderation, and it sure as hell did not extract from the exciting moments in the was more like icing on top of the cake. Speaking of the climatic moments in the story, while action wasn't the main focus here, there was a fair bit of planning and political warfare which only made things more interesting. There's a lot to like here, and at least our protagonist isn't a useless piece of slab in this one, despite coming from the future and having no combat prowess.

As usual, the main character gets all the lolis.

Yoshiharu is a normal high school student that loves to play a lot of video games, especially the ones that involve Oda Nobunaga. One day he wakes up in the middle of a field with soldiers running rampant all around. A man dies in front of him, and Yoshiharu finds out that the man that none other than the reincarnation of Hideyoshi, the man destined to serve Oda Nobunaga. Then he finds out that the Oda Nobunaga that he knew for his entire a woman. A puzzled Yoshiharu jumps in to defend her in the middle of a battle, and he is knocked out. He is picked up by Nobunaga's troops and ends up tagging along, with Oda Nobuna calling him Saru...which simply stands for monkey. He starts off as Nobuna's shoe polisher that resides with all of her generals (all gender swapped, mind you), until they all realize that Yoshiharu ACTUALLY comes from the future, when he predicts events that were to happen in the world. He devotes himself to making sure that Oda Nobuna doesn't deviate too much from the original timeline that he knows of.

"Oda Nobuna No Yabou" is pretty great for what it is. It does the job right in many of its aspects, Unfortunately, there's no word of a sequel yet, because the world of "Oda Nobuna No Yabou" has a whole lot of potential. With a ton of likable characters and a story that's only gearing up to become better, there's not much to NOT like here.


Smelter Demon
HP: 5970
Skills: Sword Swing Combo*, Quick Sword Thrust*, Sword Slam*, Flame Body, Flame Sword*, Sword Plunge
Souls: 32000

Difficulty: 4/5
Deaths: 20+

So now that you're in the Old Iron Keep, its time to make some progress and actually try to take out that final soul lord. Of course, the keep is a mighty challenging place to navigate, with Alonne Knights everywhere trying to chase you down and kill you like the riot police. The captains even shoot arrows at you, and the entire area is surrounded with lava, meaning instant death the moment you fall in it. Keep following the obvious path to meet a boss in a small, locked away arena behind a fog of my personal WORST enemies in the game. Enter, the Smelter Demon.

No! F**k off! F**k you!

The Smelter Demon awaits you, standing motionless as you enter the arena, when you approach him, a fire lights up within him, and the suit of armor springs to life, walking towards you with a massive sword. The Smelter Demon is a ruthless, hard hitting monster that shows no mercy, he will attack you with varying speeds, making him quite a hard opponent to read. He has a good variety of attacks and buff abilities that make things SO much harder for you. I hope you brought some fire resistance, (the Gyrm Greatshield helps as a last resort), because this guy is SCORCHING-LY difficult.

Sword Swing Combo* - A combination of horizontal and/or vertical slashes. Each and every swing he takes comes at a different speed, making this attack quite tough to avoid at times. The longer the battle drags, the more swings he takes, and he can swing up to 3 times. Can be blocked to a certain extent when he hasn't used Flame Sword.

Quick Sword Thrust* - When you are far away from him, he lunges towards you with great speed and thrusts his sword at you for some good damage. Can be dodged by rolling to the side, but this will almost always catch you off guard if you heal at the wrong time.

Sword Slam* - He slowly slams his sword down with an overhead stance. Easily dealt with normally, but when he has used Flame Sword, this causes a massive, flaming shock wave to emit from his sword.

Flame Body - He lights his body on fire for the rest of the fight, dealing minor damage over time to you if you stand near him.

Flame Sword* - He buffs his sword, engulfing it in flames, empowering all his attacks, making them do fire well as giving some of his attacks new properties. This fire effect chips through most shields for considerable damage.

Sword Plunge - He jumps into the air and plunges his sword down, hard. Easily dodged. After using Flame Sword, he can do an AOE flame burst after landing, so make sure you keep your distance.

As you can see, this hulking suit of flaming armor is certainly no joke. If you're a valiant, melee fighter, you'll need to get used to his attacks and find openings. If you intend to take this behemoth head on with ranged attacks, prepare to move around A LOT, because the arena is small, and you'll have little room to work with when pelting the fella from afar. Whatever style you play with, make sure to get accustomed to dodging his attacks, because when Smelter Demon uses Flame Sword, you can no longer resort to blocking, the chip will eventually overwhelm you.

Oh we go...

The fight is split into 3 phases. During the first phase, which is about the first 20-30% of his HP, he attacks you in his base form. During phase 2, he lights himself on fire with Flame Body, immolating you if you're nearby for minor damage over time. The damage is minor, but it CAN kill you and if you prolong the fight, you're bound to have to heal yourself even if you didn't get hit, because you would have suffered too much fire damage. In his last phase, which usually happens when he hits about 50% HP or so, he uses Flame Sword, which sets his sword on fire and changes the properties of some attacks, PLUS his attacks do fire chip damage. All of his buffs last him the entire fight after he's used them, so prepare for a tough battle.

Let's start off with the area, the arena is small, meaning that the Smelter Demon can very easily get to you if he so will have little opportunity to heal without getting punished. However, his attacks have windows of delay, albeit they can be hard to get used to because he has varying swing speeds when he swings his sword. When you're up close, he constantly spams his Sword Swing Combo, which can hit up to 3 times at most. Learn the timing and dodge his attacks, its ideal keep to his RIGHT side (his sword arm), so that you can maneuver around his attacks, eventually getting behind him so that you can have the better position. His recovery times are decently quick, so you only have to much time to land attacks of your own.

Make sure to always keep an eye out for your HP as you burn away to Flame Body. If you need to heal, do it after he uses Sword Plunge, an attack in which he flies into the air and plunges downward. It has a long recovery time, allowing you to either heal or get a few strikes in. He also has Sword Slam, in which he slams his sword down on you, that one has a long startup and decent recovery, if you want to hit him or heal, you can do it after that. However, beware, with Flame Sword on, he can choose to do an AOE flame burst after Sword Plunge, which does massive damage and covers a WIDE area, limiting you to only healing after Sword Plunge in phase 3. Also, his Sword Slam will emit a shock wave AFTER he slams down, meaning you'll need to adapt and change your dodge timing.

Note: My mistake, he can flame burst EVEN without Flame Sword on, though the timing is a lot easier to keep track of.

The big flaming sword can be not waver.

Remember! All attacks must be dodged, relying on blocking gets you nowhere, especially in phase 3. This boss is so ridiculously tough because of how it straight out removes one of your methods of survivability. Without blocking, all you can do is dodge, and you'll need to be QUICK on your feet, especially since he does seem to have some sort of increased reach after he uses Flame Sword. Do remember that when he buffs himself for both Flame Body and Flame Sword, you can still hit him, even though he takes massively reduced damage during the duration of the buff animation.

If you somehow manage to play ring around the rosie and defeat him...congratulations, that's one of the toughest bosses in the game out of the way. You get 32000 souls, as well as a shortcut bonfire to proceed deeper into the Keep. However, its not quite over yet, the Smelter Demon ISN'T the master of the fact, the true Soul Lord residing here isn't that far ahead.


Old Iron King
HP: 6070
Skills: Fist Smash, Double Fist Smash, Flaming Fist Smash*, Fire Breath, Fire Shock Wave
Souls: 48000

Difficulty: 2/5
Deaths: 1

Let's get straight to it, as you progress into the final reaches of the Old Iron Keep, you meet this son of a bitch, the past owner of this place, a leader of his kingdom, and also, one of the 4 soul lords that you need to defeat. Coincidentally, he's the last one, and fortunately, he's not too tough, despite how badass he looks. Meet the Old Iron King, or Icarus Earth, or whatever you want to call him, he's here, he looks like Diablo, and he wants to kill you. Bring ranged attacks to this fight if you want to easily cheese him on your first try.

Well well...what do we have here?

The Old Iron King is big and menacing. He also fights differently from most other bosses in the franchise. He is very similar to the likes of Dragon God from "Demons' Souls", and to some extent, the Moonlight Butterfly from the first "Dark Souls". He'll exist on a platform that you cannot walk on, but you can reach him with attacks. He tries to throw all sorts of shit to hit you, most of which you can punish. Here is what he can do.

Fist Smash - He plummets his fist down on the platform after a massive delay. He then leaves his fist there for whatever reason, letting you get free hits in.

Double Fist Smash - He smashes downwards with both fists, covering a larger area. He also leaves them after smashing down for a long time, letting you get MORE free hits in.

Flaming Fist Smash* - Similar to the original Fist Smash, but after plummeting his fist down, it causes a firestorm around the fist. Just move away, wait for the firestorm to subside, then go in for your free hits once again.

Fire Breath - He breaths slow jets of fire that creep forward. After dodging the initial first flames, you can go in to strike his belly for some easy hits.

Fire Shock Wave - He calls forth a very predictable shock wave after a long start up. Easily dodged to the side, and you can get PLENTY of free hits in.

Notice something about the Old Iron King here? ALL of his attacks have massive recovery time and you can very, very easily land hits on him, chipping him down, bit by bit. This will make his high HP pool seem like a joke as you can simply just hack away and he'll die sooner or later. His attacks are big, loomy, and downright easy to dodge, however, there is one very real threat in this boss battle that you'll immediately notice right off the bat. The arena...its quite small. Your only real threat of dieing is getting cheesed off the stage for an instant kill. Also note that none of his attacks are blockable, but they are so slow and easy to should have no problem.

There's a cheeky little hole at the back of the small platform you are given, if you drop in there its instant death. He has plenty of attacks that knock you back, meaning that he's aiming for that f**king hole. His regular Fist and Double Fist Smash attacks have long startup times, meaning you can easily move away, then hack away as he leaves his fists there for you. The Flaming version is probably the only attack you'll need to watch out for, the firestorm is unpredictable and can knock you off the stage. Simply stay away and wait for the fire to subside.

...He looks like a flamewaker from Hearthstone, no?

Next up are his ranged attacks, which are quite easy to deal with. Flame Breath has him spitting flames at you in a wide arc. The flames have gaps, so you can easily side step them or sneak into the gaps, then go in for a few easy swipes. His Fire Shock Wave has a very long startup, you can just side step the damn thing, then go in for hits as well. All of these moves can knock you off the stage, so take heed and you should be more than fine.

Either way, with how many hits you can land on him with each attack he throws out, you'll probably be done with him after he does about 4-5 attacks. That takes care of the last soul lord, and you get a whooping 48000 souls. Now we can finally proceed into the King's Territory, with 4 great souls in hand.

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

Explosions Galore (Btooom! review)

Opening songs
OP 1 - No Pain, No Game (Nano)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Aozora (May'n)

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Psychological, Mystery, Romance

Episodes: 12

Now, this is certainly something that I regretted not watching for so long. "Btooom!" was an anime that aired way back in 2012, and certainly, its charm still shows to this date. Well, as for WHY I didn't watch this back then...I mean, for f**k sake, the show is called "Btooom!". WHO, in the right mind, would want to watch an anime called f**king "Btooom!"?! Well, shitty name aside, "Btooom!" is actually one of the most edgy, tragic, and at the same time, most beautiful anime I've ever quite awhile at least. Sure, the story has some minor gripes here and there, but other than that, the anime nails almost everything else to great degree. If you enjoy the survival game type animes, then "Btooom!" is certainly one that you'll need to give a shot. Strong characters, great action scenes and an amazing sense of urgency manages to keep the show exciting...making "Btooom!" a fun ride from start to finish.

Let the game begin.

The opening theme is "No Pain, No Game" by nano, and to me, this song was THE entryway to all of the great Nano songs out there. I'm not too big of a fan of Nano songs, but "No Pain, No Game" kicked it out of the park, it fits the anime so well with its epic, adventurous feel. The ending theme is "Aozora" by May'n, which is a ballad. You know me, I don't go too well with ballads...I'll skip this one.

Rating: 8.0/10

It's a fun, fun show with some serious themes. I'm never too fond of the survival game themed animes...or shows for that matter, even the big hit live TV shows like "Lost" didn't appeal to me too much, so I went into "Btooom!" completely blind. Admittedly, I found the idea of fighting with nothing but bombs to be quite boring and uninteresting, but the way the show does it is so brilliant that I eventually opened up to the idea. If "Btooom!" excels in one thing, its the smart, well crafted, action scenes where the combatants try to cleverly blow each other to smithereens using the many different kinds of bombs. I enjoyed almost every scene where characters tried to kill each other, there are plenty of well written fights that I highly recommend this show for. Other than that, the story, is fairly simple, though each character has their own little back story, some are interesting, others...not so much (I don't really like the protagonist's back story). Ultimately, its the fight scenes and some interesting character interactions that keep this show interesting. Unfortunately, the really interesting characters aren't fleshed out too much in this first season (Nobukata and Kira are my favorites).

A girl must have her essentials: a stun gun!

Sakamoto Ryota is a 22 year old, unemployed young man who has been doing nothing but playing an online game at home all day. That game is "Btooom!", a smash hit MMORPG that involves players killing each other with bombs in teams. It is in this highly popular game where Sakamoto excels, so much so that he is one of the most well renown players in the world, spotting a rank 4 team of his own, all with highly skilled players. He is even married in game to the virtual love of his life. Anyway, it seems like Sakamoto's NEET life was perfect, that is, until one day, he wakes up in the middle of an island for no apparent reason. He has no memory of what happened before he woke up, and he is instead attacked by an unknown man who throws a bomb at him. Desperate to defend himself, he finds that he himself, has some bombs of his own. Forced to defend himself, Sakamoto kills his opposition with his bombs, and finds out that the bombs are the very same bombs used in the game, "Btooom!". He is forced to survive on this island with other hungry competitors, each trying to kill one another with the bombs in the game that he loved so much...except that this time, his life is on the line.

"Btooom!" perfectly captures the survival game feel and throws us into an unfamiliar setting that has a lot of potential. The first season ended on a great note and I honestly cannot wait to see more, as they expand on more of the characters and hopefully clear up a lot of the stuff that we don't know. This show genuinely, and I cannot wait to see more.

Spoilers for the following games:

Under Night In Birth EXE:Late
Fire Emblem
Megaman X
Bravely Default
Devil Survivor


5. Byakuya
From: Under Night In Birth EXE:Late

Number 5 on today's list is Byakuya, from UNIEL, one of my more favored 2D fighters in recent years. Sure, he isn't the main villain of the game, but he's pretty crazy.

Hilda doesn't quite cut it, that much I can assure you. All she has is a troll-ish laugh and nothing more, she gets shit on by almost everyone else in the game. Byakuya however...this mysterious young man is the one that I'm REALLY interested in. We don't know all too much about this young man, except that he's an In-Birth with a ridiculous, murderous aura that even the strongest of characters in the UNIEL canon story can sense...some even fear him. So, who the f**k is this guy and what's his deal? Why is he roaming the Hollow Night?

No one really knows, really. Byakuya roams the night with his sister, Tsukuyomi, doing her bidding. He almost has no will, only doing what her sister desires. Coincidentally, Tsukuyomi wishes to take down Paradox, and Byakuya just willingly does so, ruthlessly crushing all those who stand before her. He likes to "devour" his foes, and how he does this is unknown, but we can just assume that he kills them and goes after their EXS. It is even revealed by Merkava that Byakuya is the only individual that has a presence that is most similar to his. Merkava is a void, and that can only mean that Byakuya is somewhat similar to a void...which opens up even more mysteries about this already mysterious characters.

Now here's an evil looking fellow.

4. Validar
From: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Validar is today's villain taking the 4th place. He's quite a weird looking fellow with a very, VERY obvious villain its no wonder that he's the main baddie of the game.

Validar is introduced at the very start of the game during the prologue chapter as the..."last boss" of the game. I mean, its pretty much a preview of the battle to come. Anyway, Validar isn't quite revealed as the ultimate bad guy until much later on, since you encounter him early on merely as an assassin sent to attack the palace. You defeat him, and that's the end of that...until we see a cut scene where he is somewhat "resurrected" by an unknown figure. Then, after Grangel was defeated, he somehow became the NEXT king of Plegia. Coincidence? I don't think so.

For the next arc, when your army goes to war against Walhart, Validar takes on a more minor role, where he plans for his next course of action. He later in the game lures Chrom and the protagonist to give them the final gem for the "Fire Emblem"...of course, we ALL know that's a ruse. He somehow manages to brainwash the protagonist and throw everyone into despair. It seemed like his plan to resurrect the ancient dragon Grima was well underway, of course, until we stop him. To the end it seemed like he was hardcore pressed to bring the world to ruin, and that he wanted to use the protagonist like a tool to bring his dream to fruition. this, is pure, hardcore, PERSISTENT, evil.

3. Sigma
From: Megaman X Series

For our number 3 slot today we have Sigma, the ultimate, bald maverick man who is hell bent on destroying X, the reploids....and most probably, the world.

Sigma is a madman, a persistent son of a BITCH who has been doing his job for many, many, many....MANY games in the Megaman X series. In fact, he appears in all of the games in the main series timeline, and in all of them, he is always the final boss, the big, bad guy, pulling the strings. So its no surprise that by the end of every Megaman X game, we get to see the bald fella at the very end, waiting to kick our asses AGAIN, after we've destroyed him in the previous game. Sure, now we know about the recurring villain, but how did this guy come to be?

Sigma was actually the commander of the Maverick Hunters in "Megaman X". A certain lab accident caused his programming to go haywire, and just like that, he used his influence to lead a revolt, using the reploids under his command to wage war against all of humanity. He even tries to pull X to his side, but because of his strange, human-like programming, X refuses, and battles through Sigma's legion of mavericks alongside Zero. Of course, the big bald guy is defeated, but because of the "Sigma Virus", the bastard comes back to life, every, single, time. And each time he comes back, he brings a bunch of Mavericks along with him to fight X and Zero. Talk about persistent. He revived himself to fight X EIGHT F**KING TIMES!

The cutest ones are always the craziest.

2. "Airy"
From: Bravely Default

Taking our 2nd spot today is "Airy", from SquareEnix's smash 3DS RPG hit, "Bravely Default". Surely, this is one fairy that almost nobody wanted to see turn, but of course, here we are.

First time, we'll clear something up. There are, I believe, TWO Airies in the game. The one that greets you in CG during the game's opening, and the one that follows your party in the game. Only one is evil, and of course, that's the one who follows your party, the one who, initially, appeared as Agnes's travelling companion. She seems like every other good willed fairy that's eager to awaken the crystals and save the world from an impending doom...right?

Things started to become a little bit fishy later in a game when Airy started to constantly pester the team to awaken the crystals. Over and over again she reminds the party not to stray off track and to continue to awaken the crystals. EVEN when the entire journey botched up and it brought the entire world to a soft reset, Airy STILL insists that the party awakens the crystals, over and over and over and over. She got so persistent, that it was bloody obvious that she was up to no good. Of course, finally, after causing the world to reset so many times, she finally gives in and reveals her true colors, a slave to Ouroborous, the greatest evil in the world. Being the traitor that she was, it was only fitting that she was killed by the hands of her own master.

Now THAT is the face of evil.

1. Naoya
From: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Taking our number 1 slot today is Naoya from the first "Devil Survivor". I mean, did you seriously expect any less?

Naoya is a true badass. From the start, we know that he's cooking something up. At the beginning of the game, he meets up with the main character along with Atsuro and Yuzu. He gives them the devil summoning devices without truly explaining their true nature, making them think that they were nothing but mere playthings that Naoya cooked up out of nowhere. Truth is, those included the home-brewed Devil Summoning Program, something that Naoya created by himself for a job that he would not state. That could only mean that: he expected the transpiring events to occur, and gave the devices to the main character for him to survive.

After throwing us on our own to survive for many, MANY days, he only appears on the last day to offer us a hand. Not a hand of friendship, but instead, he wants to use the Main Character, as Abel, to deceive the angels and to usher forth a new age where the main character can rule over the demons AND the masses. It was a plan so crazy that no sane human being would want to side with him, but if you DO side with him, you pretty much have the world in your hands because Naoya is POWERFUL. If you DON'T go with his plan, you then have to stand against him and his crazy horde of demons. This is one guy that thinks ahead, and its so scary that he orchestrated many of the events that happened in "Devil Survivor".

Opening Songs
OP 1 - &Z (SawanoHiroyuki[nzk]:mizuki)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Genesis (Eir Aoi)

Genre:  Action, Science Fiction

Episodes: 12

And here we are again with one of the shows that I regretted ever finishing. Mind you, I did not regret starting on the series...I just regretted finishing the damn thing. I wished that after the cliffhanger ending of season 1, I just told myself to stop watching the show entirely, and never ever touched season 2. But of course, its only human nature to want to find out what happened after that mind f**k of an ending that "Aldnoah Zero"'s first season presented us with. Needless to say, that was one of the dirtiest ways to end a series, though it DOES pique interest in its viewers to watch the second season. This is usually good...if your second season is any good at all, in which "Aldnoah Zero 2", isn't. In fact, I find that its actually a downright DOWNGRADE of what season 1 is, and shows us exactly how lazily the writers actually decide to dumb the show down...making it all flash and little substance....along with ANOTHER, sub-par disappointing ending, this time, one that won't have a follow up to.

Slaine and Inaho should just be gay buddies,

The opening theme of "Aldnoah Zero 2" is "&Z" by SawanoHiroyuki[nzk]:mizuki. Horrible song name aside, its a decent opening theme, though I feel that its not as powerful or impactful as "Heavenly Blue", the opening of season 1. Honestly, that song was insane, it's going to be hard to top it, and unfortunately, "&Z" doesn't live up to that standard. The ending theme is "Genesis" by Eir Aoi, is another slow ending theme that tends to thrive on its emotional "feel" to pull you in. Unfortunately, I don't really like it, otherwise, it should please those who like this theme of songs.

Rating: 7.0/10

In season 1 "Aldnoah Zero" showed promise in its early episodes, then it quickly simplified itself, went downhill, and became a little bit repetitive throughout as the enemies simply seemed too easy to beat without a whole of of strategy or planning. As an action/mecha anime the first few episodes of season 1 were fantastic, and I was hoping that in season 2, they'd get back to it. Nope, unfortunately, you'll get more lazy fights as Inaho stomps all over OP enemy Kataphract on the spot without any interesting strategies or difficulties...all with his old, orange, training Kataphract that he used in the academy. In fact, I felt that the battles became even LAZIER, as fights were settled even quicker than they were in season 1. I feel a lot went into the story, character development and character interaction. Honestly, those weren't done too well too. Slaine is just downright ridiculous throughout and I can't find myself LIKING the character...even though we are CLEARLY supposed to sympathize with him...I don't. Inaho as well, he's pretty much the exact same as he was in season 1, even though he went through HELL to get to where he was. Every other character doesn't change much as well, much to my disappointment, and the new characters are mostly dull or boring. And...let's not talk about the ending.

Inaho's all seeing eye is great for seeing things that others can't...
Can that thing see three sizes?

After the events of season 1, Inaho and princess Asyleum were shot and left for dead. Asyleum was taken by Slaine back to the Martian floating castle and placed in intensive care, hoping that she could be saved. On the other hand, Inaho was brought back to the federation. He was miraculously saved through an operation, only his eye was shot, so his life was still salvageable. His eye was replaced by a mechanical analytical engine, which allowed him to calculate...all sorts of bullshit. It even allows him to see a lot things that others can't in first glance, he can analyze facial features, read their temperatures or even instantly get data about their body...a perfect tool for someone as talented as Inaho. Upon recovery he quickly got back into his Kataphract and dived back into the fray of war. Oh, and for some reason, when he kissed Asyleum, he got access to power the Aldnoahs, wow, talk about convenience. Calling bullshit yet? Well, you ain't seen nothing. Apparently, Slaine was accepted into Count Saazbaum's fleet, and was dubbed his son so that he could start his own career. So how will this all end up with Inaho and Slaine killing each other? Only time will tell.

"Aldnoah Zero 2" ended up being pretty "meh" in almost every aspect, it only manages to stay somewhat decent because its still visually impressive, and the musical score is EXCELLENT. Other than that, everything else is pretty mediocre and/or subpar. Forgettable characters, repetitive mech battles and a story that's all over the place drags "Aldnoah Zero 2" down, and it doesn't help that it ends on such a wishy washy note. This franchise could have been something, but unfortunately, it just falls short.


Shu And Inori

I don't really know about you, but I didn't really like this one, its only here because its canon, and its one of the most highly regarded pairings in the series. Honestly, I support Shu X Ayase more, but let's be real here, Inori tried really hard to be the one for Shu. In many ways, she succeeded. She was the first one to bring Shu to the terrorist organization and also the one who made Shu realize that he needed to fight to get what he wanted. Throughout the events of the show it was obvious that Shu had sort of a a thing for Inori, and it only became more obvious as the show progressed onward. Even when Shu became a tyrant, it was also Inori that stuck with him all the way. This pair's ending is less than pleasant, but at least Shu will ever forget the girl that changed his life forever...and he still listens to her songs long after he passing.

Furuya And Rea

I like this one, even though the show never really says it in words, its obvious enough that them being together is a least for Rea, that girl REALLY wants Furuya. It seems a little bit weird at first, how can a freaking zombie and a human end up together? Well, these 2 say otherwise. Furuya obviously has some sort of hots for Rea, and Rea just straight up looks up to the guy for "saving" her life and taking care of her while she continued to struggle throughout her zombie phases. She goes as far as defying her father to take him into her hands. If anything else, the ending of the anime has Rea kissing Furuya. While its unclear or not whether she did that on purpose or it was just an urge while her body was taken over, subconsciously, she KNOWS that she loves this man.

Tsugumu And Chisaki

I highly support this pairing, and I'll even go as far as to say that this is my favorite pairing within the anime itself. Sure, one can argue that Hikari and Manaka ended up together, but what the hell, the anime made it so vague and unclear. The 2 did NOT even have a lot of dedicated romance development together. Tsugumu and Chisaki however, these 2 can't get any sweeter. While Chisaki aged 5 years, her mind remained in the past, thinking that she stilled loved the now younger Hikari, when there was a fantastic man standing by her all these time for the entire 5 years. It became apparent that their 5 years together sparked something between the both of them, and even though Chisaki still showed signs of denial, even she couldn't say no to Tsugumu's true and honest feelings. These 2 should be shipped, and I was glad that they ended up together. A close second would be Kaname and Sayu, we'll save that one for another time.

Saito And Louise

This one is obvious enough. Sure, the world of "Zero No Tsukaima" has plenty of fine ladies that could have been a match for ol' Saito. I mean, Siester, Henrietta and Tiffania are all wonderful choices for Saito, but in the end, Louise still triumphs over everything. I'm more of a boobs man than anything, but these 2 are DYING to be together, and no matter of bullshit can separate the two of them. Ever since Saito was summoned as a familiar for Louise, things were only going to get better (or worse) for him as she started to take a liking to him. I mean, Saito himself is so thankful for Louise that he puts himself in the most bullshit of situations to save her. Time after time again he has placed his LIFE on the line to make sure that things ended up well for Louise, and in her darkest of times, he stayed by her to reassure her that he's there. It takes some hardcore dedicated for someone to stick to a girl so hard, so by default, I think its only normal to say that Saito should end up with Louise. Luckily, by the end of 4 seasons, they finally did.

The What-Ifs

Maou And Emi

As much as I know Maou X Chiho is going to be a thing...I'd actually die to see this happen. Maou and Emi, while catastrophic and totally unpredictable, would actually be great me at least. Demon King and Hero should always be at each other's throats, but looking at how these 2 interact actually remind me of a shriveled up old goat and his grumpy ex-girlfriend. Believe it or not, they'd be fine together. They may bicker at each other a lot, but they always end up going to see each other. While Maou seemed bothered by it at first, it turned out that he started to find Emi's visits to his humble establishment less annoying, and later on, it became commonplace to see Emi near Maou. Even Emi's colleague thought that Maou was her boyfriend, I mean, it's not too hard to see why. Also, despite being supposedly each other's "greatest enemies", these 2 have ludicrous synergy when they work together. Like it or not, the 2 always find themselves trusting their backs to each other, and I'd like to see them take their relationship to the next time. Whether or not that happens, we'll see.

Tsukune And Moka

As far as canon pairings go, I haven't read the manga for "Rosario", so I'm not sure if these 2 really ended up with one another, but as far as the anime goes, this is THE obvious one. I mean, come on, there's not really anyone else that's worthy enough to take up the mantle. While the other girls are entertaining, nothing beats Moka's 2 faced endeavors. Her super sweet, cute, innocent side and her bloodthirsty, serious side contrast well with one another to make her one HELL of a woman. Tsukune, being the clueless dimwit that he is, has choices, but is at least smart enough to find that Moka sees him more than just a "good friend". I'd really like to see these 2 take it to the next level, well, just because they are almost always YEARNING FOR ONE ANOTHER. Geez, get a f**king room. "TSUKUNE! MOKA-SAN" spam can be cringy to watch.